"They asked how old I was to be on the range," Appleby said. "And I think they made a little chuckle about me being the rookie."

And over the next 18 holes at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, it was like old times for Appleby. He made seven birdies en route to a 65, making him one of the big movers, at least until the rains came and halted play for most of the afternoon.

Appleby will begin Saturday's third round at 7-under, two strokes off leader Fredrik Jacobson.

Simply surviving the cut is a big deal. Appleby has made it to the weekend only five times in 13 events this year, and his best finish was 21st at the Honda Classic in March.

His game wasn't great last year, either. The PGA Tour comeback player of the year in 2010, highlighted when he became the fifth player in tour history to shoot a round of 59, has seen his world rank drop to 324.

As the Rolling Stones once sang, time waits for no one. Appleby's steady decline is in line with most aging tour players. But there's no reason he can't still snatch a victory here and there against the 20-somethings.

"I don't think of myself as a veteran, but I know I am," Appleby said. "(Younger) guys ripping it by you now and you're like, OK. That's fair enough. But it does come down to quality golf, thinking golf, consistent golf. So it is absolutely out there. I think the quality of golf at a high level can be from (age) 20 to 50 now."

Appleby had eight PGA Tour wins in his first 10 years, though his career highlight was at the 2002 British Open, when he lost a four-way playoff to Ernie Els.

A return to prominence after a four-year drought looked imminent two years ago. His 59 came in the final round of the Greenbrier Classic, his ninth tour victory.

But his 2011 season included a stretch of 12 cuts, disqualifications or withdrawals in a span of 13 tournaments. And he'd broken 70 only seven times in 2012 before arriving in Cromwell, where he followed Thursday's 68 with his best round of the year.

A back injury wasn't helping, but Appleby knew his troubles were simply a matter of not having his mental approach in check.

"It's really a crumbling wreck, my game," Appleby said. "I wasn't hitting it any good and I wasn't thinking any good and I was really finding it very hard. All self-induced issues."

His body and mind in tune, Appleby is in position to make a run. After going 2-under on the front nine, he birdied holes 12, 13, 15 and 17 to get to 8-under before finishing with a bogey on 18.

On a course known for scoring, he'll have to continue rapid-fire birdies to remain in contention into Sunday. Jacobson, the defending champion, and a few other young guys at the top of the leaderboard are sure to make things difficult. Appleby would love to win, but he's happy to simply still be kicking around and not have a two-day jump on travel to the next tournament.

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"I'm playing well," Appleby said. "I haven't played well for a long time. I don't want to sound like, you know, I'm taking pennies or begging, but I've just missed so many cuts. So it's nice to play on the weekend. It's good to ... at least hang around and play proper golf. It's been a long time since I've seen the first tee on a Saturday. Just nice to be back on the horse."